Lahore Memoirs

It was a time when Toba Tek Singh (A character of Manto's story) came alive within me. I and Rajeshwar Ojha (a friend) cried, "we are neither in India, nor in Pakistan". 

Yes, it was that time during my journey to Pakistan when I was crossing Wagah border on foot and was standing between the gates of Pakistan and India.

I got the opportunity of being one in a ten member Indian delegation to participate in a convention at Lahore on Relaxed Visa. This delegation included the name of film maker Mahesh Bhatt as well but he was not able to make it. It also included a Magsasay awardee Dr Sandeep Pandey. Nasir bhai, Sirish Agarwal, Shehla Ghanim, Anil Mishra and Rajeshwar Ojha as other members of the delegation.

Pic: Left to Right: Rajeshwar Ojha, Sirish Agarwal, Anil Mishra, Indian Border Guard, Ravi Nitesh

With the security checking and immigration that happened on both sides of border, we reached at the waiting lounge on the Pakistan side. Here I had my first communication. First and an everlasting one…

'Please keep it with you as you may need it on the way as well,' remarked the person at the immigration center and handed over a water bottle to me. It was his additional courtesy after providing me a glass of cold water on my demand. I did not expect such generous behavior from security personals ever. 

The way from immigration of Wagah to Lahore was quite similar to any Indian highway where villages are situated alongside roads. Beautifully decorated trucks were also there. A beautiful canal met with us while entering in Lahore and we moved parallel with it. All the way, our host, Ms. Saeeda Diep ji told us many things about Lahore, on the other hand, our Indian friend Anil started reading urdu banners and hoardings.

On reaching hotel, we got to know that there was a shutdown strike in Pakistan and so we were told to stay in the hotel only but we enjoyed our hotel stay as well. We found that almost all Indian channels were broadcasted on TV, but we preferred to watch the Pakistani TV channels. After few hours watching television, I started talking to the room service person in general to know his perspective. This was the second encounter wherein a Pakistani, a young waiter told me that how much he is passionate to visit India, especially for Taj Mahal. He told me that his native home is at approx 6 hours distance from here, but in spite of being a 3 hour distance to Amritsar, he can't cross the Wagah. 

The convention was on next day, but we all made a call to Aapa (we fondly called Ms. Saeeda Diep "Aapa") that we would also like to help in organizing convention, as a host and not be just a guest. In the evening, we were in a ball room of a hotel where the conference was planned. 

We started doing arrangements, Hindustanis and Pakistanis were getting mixed in decorating the hall, some were pasting the posters, others were decorating table linings with Indo-pak flags, another group was holding a string for hanging peace messages beautifully calligraphed on piece of clothes. 

Pic: Messages of Peace in string and volunteers (Indians and Pakistanis) at work

During all this work, we started working with different people with whom we were not introduced first and so they were unknown about our identity as Indian. Until the time they thought that we are Pakistanis, we were working fine, but during the work, we talked as well and when they came to know the place where we hailed from, they were visible shaken and started feeling guilty. They said that we handed over the work to you while you are our guest. This togetherness of working made many of us known to each other. After the work, we returned to hotel late night, dropped by local friends who volunteered for the conference. At night, roads were similarly silent and beautiful as we have in India.

Pic: Raza Khan, A Pakistani volunteer during decoration of Indian and Pakistani flags 

The morning experience for my fellow Indian friends was amazing. They narrated that in the morning they went to a tea stall near the hotel and had tea. There, they inquired about some nearby place to visit and got an offer from a taxi driver to show them a good place within 15 minutes. They visited places like Badshahi Mosque and on return, the taxi driver did not accept even a penny with saying that “you are an Indian and so our guest, i cannot take anything”.  

On the day of conference, we welcomed all participants, made more friends and came to know about their work. We also witnessed the diversity and modernity of Pakistan through people. Movaizz, Rohulla, Kaleem, Taimur and Shahid were few of them. Shahid Pasha was so passionate about Bollywood that he remembered many celebrity’s parental place in Pakistan and he claimed to have more than twenty five thousands Indian songs in his personal collection. The conference itself was a full phase of learning and understanding. We heard historians, educationists, activists and politicians. After the conference, we had a long chit chat with Ashraf, Atiqua and Raza over society and politics and developed a bond.

The evening was filled with Liberty chowk market, where we enjoyed the famous Bundu Khan's kabab. During shopping in the market, my local friend Ovais told a shopkeeper that I came from outside, and he replied that yes, he can understand that I came from Karachi. It was another thing that made me felt that really we are not only same by heart, but even by look. 

Pic: Liberty market, Lahore, Pakistan

I also enjoyed visiting Badshahi Mosque, Ravi river and Tomb of Allama Iqbal. I found example of communal harmony when I first witnessed Gurudwara before the Badshahi Mosque. 

Last day, before our departure, there was a lunch with volunteers and hosts where we all enjoyed the vegetarian food in Pakistan. The certificate that had to be given to volunteers was also written by me. I saw many paintings, cards, posters in the room. All of these paintings were crying to let them meet with neighbors, to be set free like birds. I was feeling the same, praying the same for me.

Pic: Hindustani and pakistani together during get together before departure from Lahore

The departure was very emotional. None of us wanted to go back so soon as we did not know that when will we meet again. 

There were only tears in our eyes, no words to speak. Aapa was waving her hands till the time we went away and crossed the border again.

It is one of the best experiences that I have had in my life. This experience has changed me, my thinking and has only encouraged me more to work to improve the relations, to make people realise that people on both sides are same. People on both sides desire for peace and friendship. I am happy that Zindagi Channel will be able to contribute to this by bringing in stories from Pakistan. It will be able to become a medium for people to realise for themselves that how similar our lives are. I am sure that Zindagi Channel will not only present stories but through them, will be able to weave new ones.

Hum dono hi mulqon me, ek doosre ke liye mohabbat hai,

hum umeed karte hain, ki yeh mohabbat badhtee rahegi, fizaon me ghulti rahegi..

jaise jaise..Zindagi ki kahani chaltee rahegi...........

(This post is written for Zindagi Indiblogger Meet #JodeyDilonKo)

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KITCHENS OF INDIA: VALUE FOR MONEY, FOR FOOD, FOR SATISFACTION, FOR SHARING HAPPINESS

After a month long research work, as we five team members were sitting and thinking about the time spent, a thought came to my friends. They proposed (proposed means decided) for a party for ourselves and for our new friends. We all were here for a research on refugee migrations and had established contacts with some migrated families. Out of the five in our team, two were from neighbor country and three were from India. Our fieldwork would often turn out to be sensitive owing to the horrendous incidents that had led to the migration. However, we had managed to mix up with them, especially with the youths. We got to know the horrendous stories, learnt about their culture and also got to eat some delicious, traditional food.

Now that we realised that the work is over and it is time to depart, we became emotional. We became emotional for those who had became our companions with their sweet smiles. We remembered the time when we sat together for hours, talked about their issues and enjoyed the food cooked by them. So now we decided that it is our turn to invite them over and cook food for them.

The party was decided. It seemed fine and now came the problem of distributing the roles and responsibilities amongst ourselves. The two from outside the country took the role of inviting the people as they were our guests in India and now they wanted to become the host while we three from India took up the responsibility for the food.  However, it all ended with (and I don't know how) the main responsibility of cooking upon me! I immediately refused as I did not even know the C of cooking.

After two hours of thinking, nothing came in our mind as none of us was good in cooking. We decided to consult someone to outsource the idea of cooking. So I called to my mom, who was always the best cook for me. She listened to our problems and realized that we have neither the time nor the skill to adopt the long process of cooking that starts with buying vegetables and raw materials and so she sent us a link on internet. That day, i realised that she is not the only a brilliant cook but a genius. Our eyes became wide open as we saw the Kitchen of India's ready to serve dishes. We three selected the dishes and it was done!

The big day is soon approaching. I am sure that they will amazed with "my" cooking skills (the kill to heat and serve). Can't wait to see them savour Paneer Darbari, the Daal Bukhara and the Jodhpuri Moong daal halwa. I hope that it'll be an awesome traditional treat. I can imagine all of us in our respective ethnic wears, the decor with a traditional touch and music that'll be a mix of traditional and pop! I am imagining a treat wherein we will all explore and respect our and each other's traditions. And for all this, a big thanks goes to Kitchen of India for adding flavour to this treat. 

This blog is written for: 'My weekend party with Gourmet food'  #MyWeekendParty and submitted at Indiblogger

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My Mom’s Mission with Colgate

"My Healthy Speak Blog is something that is all about care, courage and dedication mixed with expert knowledge and experiences. The moral story that I am writing here starts from ignoring a warning signs, goes with its effects and finally doesn't come to an end, instead get converted in a journey, a journey of care for dental health. " 

It was a sharp curve where the board of maximum speed limit was ignored by me due to good speed.  Oh My God!!! A big stone in front of me, and the next moment was obvious, an  injury. Knee scratched , face scratched, teeth and mouth …It was me, who even in hospital asked about the loss, oh, not of myself, but of my cycle that I had left unattended after I got injured.  Some days of hospitals remain in still my memory. My mom had sat near me and talked a lot, she had narrated stories to me. At that time, She had taught me the dangerous effect of ignoring warning signs. She remarked, "This incident should be treated as a lesson. So never ignore warning signs not just while cycling but in all areas of life."  

In another instance, she had done the same when a neighbor had tried to diagnose a disease all by himself. He was relying on medicines prescribed by the chemist. My mom had then warned him. He tried to avoid it by saying that it was nothing serious, must be just a common flu. But she told him that it could be a warning sign. So he had decided to take her advice. He went to a doctor and got a full body check up. He found that she was right and was diagnosed of a disease which could have proved fatal.

All these small incidents happened more than 20 years ago when I learnt from mom not to ignore any warning sign. I found it quite useful and it has become my habit to do the same.

Through my experiences, I believe that our body sends signals in the form of warning signs on specific problems. It is just like knocking in your bike that send signals that something is running bad. My mom had now become too busy with her work, home and writings. Probably what she taught me in these years, she had started forgetting for herself. I observed that sometimes she complaint about toothache, also sometimes some blood spots were visible in wash basin. It was my time to tell her about the warning signs, I called her friend who was a dentist. ‘Oh! Timely recognized. You saved your mom’s teeth,'  she told. She suggested colgate total for daily use .  

The incident affected mom more than me, as she with a heart of mother, always try to care. She was now on her mission. She accompanied her dentist friend and colgate on weekly dental check up camps in various societies of our city as now she knew that there are many who ignore warning signs so often. She started blogging where she with her dentist friend and other experts from colgate try to spread awareness about dental health care and solve online queries, helping people to search dental experts in their vicinity, providing details of products to care about dental health etc also.

She was again trying to tell people where to stop. Colgate paved the way. 

(This moral story written for : The moral of the story is.......! contest by Colgate at Indi Blogger website to let people understand about #WarningSigns )

http://www.myhealthyspeak.co.in/

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Beauty is all about your care, Face is not the only beautiful thing

ENTRY FOR : GET YOUR HAIR RAMP READY OF INDIBLOGGER

Beauty is all about your care, Face is not the only beautiful thing

It was a simple truth for me that she has knee long beautiful hair and she is one of the most beautiful lady in our society.

As a fact, I am proud of her as she is my mom. And I am proud of her not because she has long, beautiful hair, but in fact because it was not god-gifted but she herself had put effort to make them beautiful. It is her own story that inspired her to do so.

“You do not have a beautiful face, you know, I am fairer than you” a friend of her told when they both were in class 12^th. They were good friends and studied together but since childhood, she experienced that in this society a fair lady earn more appraisal than a dark one. She had experienced it many times, the discrimination that she met by some her friends as they all admired only the beauty of face rather than of heart. And now it was in class 12^th that she tried to think more on this.

She wanted to change the myths, these established "facts" of beauty.  She knew that she is a good human being by heart as she had never tried to hurt somebody, she does not lie, she favor truth and justice and that she is of a caring nature.

She got marriage just after she had completed her graduation. Her husband was also caring and had never hurt or discriminated her on these things. She was living her life happily and would also try to nurture her hobbies and passions. She was a homemaker of a beautiful home. She had made the home beautiful with her creativity and care. It was during a family meet before my birthday when my cousin sister who took attention of her long hair. She described them to be beautiful and strong. She advised my mom to take care of hair, “You have such a rare thing, very few people have such long and beautiful hair, it’s a jewel for you. It's your beauty that you have nurtured and you must nourish it.” But my mom resorted back, “Why will I? I do not believe much in physical beauty, also I do not have a beautiful face and color, then what to do with hair? What I try is just to nurture my heart and mind with pure thoughts.”  "Do you know that if you care about yourself , about the precious things you have, it's not related to beautification, instead it’s a responsibility that you have towards your body. In fact its beyond body and goes to soul, mind and heart. You will feel more fresh, more energetic, satisfied and dynamic if you will keep your body healthy and hair are one of the most important part of your body. You must not take it granted, if you have it, you must nourish it carefully . Ask those who ever want to have beautiful hair. And do you know, you face or color are natural and made by god, you cannot modify them, but it's your hair that can be groomed by your efforts. You must think about this.“ my cousin sister said.

After two days of this conversation, I saw my mom looked carefully at her hair in mirror. ‘Body is temple’ was the phrase for her that probably she probably learnt through the conversation with my cousin.

My cousin was a hair expert and fashion designer. She came after some days and gave her a sample TRESemme pack of shampoo and conditioner. She advised her to use it and be ready for the coming competition of beautiful hair. After use of TRESemme , she herself experienced a change in her hair texture that became more silky and black. She observed a miracle, not a single strand of hair would be seen on the comb. TRESemme  gave her a new and fresh desire to take care of her hair. She became successful to convert herself from one of the beautiful hair lady of her society to the most beautiful hair lady in an evening of beautiful hair competition where she defeated so many fair and sharp-featured ladies who came all the way to prove their beauty. She proved again that beauty is all about your care towards yourself, it's all about your responsibility towards your body and face is not the only thing you should care about. Being dark itself can be more precious if you are concerned about treating the dark with care.

Its TRESemme that tell  TR(u/E)S(t)emme.

Thanks to TRESemme on her behalf  

http://www.youtube.com/user/tresemmeindia 

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THE INDIAN BIKER: STORY OF A COMMON YOUTH

After invention of zero and then a circle, the next turn was it’s conversion in to wheel and we finally got something that can be rolled fast and smooth. After an era, human got bicycle. Inventions were parallel occurring in other fields as well, where they got electrical equipments like motor and mechanical equipments like gears, chain and pulley, engine etc. This development dragged human in modern era and combined all these technologies under one cabinet that resulted in speed machines running on wheels (bikes) and thus travelling became much faster.

Modern era bikes are the updated versions of all these primary efforts, but there were lot of innovations contributed through innovators such as designers, researchers and engineers in this machine (bike) and these innovations implemented through automobile companies.

Bikes on Indian roads are common today and probably the most popular medium of travelling. In our Indian scenario, I am witnessed of its popularity among all age groups and income level. Though bikes are more popular among youths but not limited to them only. My newspaper hawker comes with bike, the milkman too and the uncle who is my neighbor. This popularity is constant even when there are lots of other mediums available. The common Indian biker is the common man who belongs from a middle class family. I am writing here as a third party on behalf of that common man.

He was so fascinated about the bikes, during his graduation; he had a routine to travel the nearby city to attend his classes. He was too fascinated by bike because his heart liked it. The bus was not regular and it took so much time to reach city. Even from bus stand, he used to go everyday to college by shared auto rickshaw that again took much time on that congested road filled with huge traffic. Though he knew the short cuts of streets, but auto route was fixed. He during summers wanted to enjoy some road side cold drinks, but it was not possible because there was no stop of bus at that place. He also noted that it was costly to travel and to reach college through these modes. His sister too was studying in nearby college and it becomes difficult for her too when she stayed in college till late evenings during her assignments and extra classes. Now, all these pushed the man to search for alternate mode of travel, and finally he thought about a bike. Yes, the bike, because it could easily remove all of his problems at a larger extent. The only problem was the capital amount to buy it. He had a reason to collect this amount; the reason was speed, comfort, passion, time management, safety and betterment. He decided to buy it with his own earning and started part time teaching work and established a coaching class for engineering and medical examinations in his town. After few months, he bought a bike. Now, he don’t need to catch the first bus of 8 AM to reach city, instead he along with his sister leaves the town at 7 AM and established takes class in another coaching class in city too where he along with his sister teach students preparing for engineering and medical examinations. After this class, they attend their college, and then return to home followed by their own coaching class in town especially for students of low income families. I heard that their classes are going well, and two months ago they also gifted a bike to topper of their coaching class.

When, I met this man, he told, that as a student of science, he is aware about little pollution caused by bikes, but he use it only to benefit himself along with the society. He told that he is too concerned about the timely maintenance of his bike. He uses the standard engine oil to increase fuel efficiency and engine life and to reduce wear and tear, noise and pollution. He is proud to be a youth who sometimes participate in various bike rallies for various social causes and sometimes he go for adventurous bike tours. After all, bikes are everybody’s choice and in context of India, it become more than the choice of an Indian biker.

Written for: http://www.facebook.com/CastrolBiking

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